The Rev. Anne Largent Smith

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7A), June 22, 2014

Preached at the Episcopal Church of St. Anne, Stockton, California

Text: Matthew 10:24-39


The first summer after I moved here to Stockton, I worked as a hospital chaplain at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. I was training there as part of my preparation for becoming a priest. It was a hard summer for me, not least because I had responsibility for offering pastoral care in the Pediatric ICU (the PICU) where I encountered children and families suffering acutely. One of the toughest of those turned out to be Damien.
 
Damien was six years old, tall for his age, lank, with chocolate skin. He’d landed in the PICU after falling into a swimming pool and nearly drowning. Damien’s parents were both there initially, his mother with another man who might have been her husband, and his father seemingly unattached. There were a few other family members in and out; Damien had a couple of older brothers.
 
It had been Damien’s father’s turn to have Damien, but it seemed his dad had left him with his grandmother, and that’s where he had been playing near the pool with no companion close by. Damien was listless, though sometimes he seemed conscious—his eyes seemed to rest on the cartoons on the TV in his room. His father exuded a frenetic, agitated energy, and was very concerned to clear himself from blame; he kept insisting he hadn’t done anything wrong. The tension among the adults was palpable.
 
After Damien’s first day at the hospital I no longer saw the father. He had gotten into an altercation with security and had been banned from the hospital building. Hopelessness and despair gradually wore Damien’s mother down. Each time I passed through the PICU the room seemed quieter—fewer visitors, less activity. Damien didn’t stay in the ICU all that long; though his condition was critical, his medical needs were not actually intensive. He was moved to the regular pediatric unit, still lying listlessly in bed. The one visitor he seemed still to have was his grandmother—whether she was the one who’d been watching him at the time he fell into the pool, I never knew.
 
And then Damien died, and I was angry and deeply saddened, because he had been alone. Grandma hadn’t happened to be there at the time, and the rest of the family seemed to stay away. When I checked in with the nurses at their station, they seemed a little angry and sad, too; it’s one thing to deal with children’s pain and suffering and even death day in and day out, but to see a family so divided and distant was a difficulty they were especially troubled by. We waited, and no one came. Damien’s family had failed him. Beloved child of God, left alone in the end by the hurting, helpless people into whose care he had been entrusted.
 
There was nothing to say and really only one small thing I could do. His body needed to be transferred to the morgue. Would I walk with the nurse as she took him there? His blanket-wrapped body lying in a little red wagon looked for all the world as if he were asleep. We were able to walk through the halls without alarming people that way; down two floors and around to the opposite wing of the building. I don’t recall much conversation, only presence. My presence to Damien and this nurse; her presence to him as well. The hall outside the morgue door was empty of people, though cluttered with things. I knelt by that little body, and I prayed over him, and blessed him, sign of the cross on his forehead. My grief felt overwhelming to me. It was not right that he should die alone. It seemed to me that his family had failed to do the thing that was most important: love him until the end, so that he could know himself as beloved.
 
I had strong feelings about what Damien’s family should have done for him. I suspect that the values I judged that situation by are the same values so many of us feel are violated when we encounter today’s gospel reading. Recall that Jesus says this:
 
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
 
“For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
 
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 10:34-39)
 
These are difficult words. They speak to the very difficult circumstances the early church experienced as Christians. And in our day, in our culture, our sense of familial loyalty and obligation causes us to bristle at the idea that God could ask anything less of us than to love our family members until the end, to ensure that they know themselves to be beloved. We expect the kingdom of God to look different in many ways from the world we’re living in now, but we assume the family will be left intact. We aren’t looking to change everything about the status quo.
 
We believe it’s our God-given duty to care for each other. We suppose that love amongst family members is a reflection of God’s love for us, so that a parent’s role with a child, for example, is idealized as that of unconditional-love-giver. And children are then expected to understand obedience to and cooperation with God as essentially the same thing as obedience to and cooperation with their own parents. And suddenly family relationships become a sort of idol; we care for them as though that were the most important thing we could do for God.
 
It’s easy to begin to operate this way, because we feel certain that family is very important. Our love for our families motivates our choices in all other aspects of our lives. We judge actions that help families to cohere as righteous, and actions that cause family disunity as unrighteous. That’s why back at the hospital in Sacramento I could rush to judgment of Damien’s family based on my assessment of their failure to cohere.
 
Because family has such a high status in our society, we don’t notice how uncritical that rush to judgment can be. In reality I only understood Damien’s family slightly. Most of the factors that likely brought about their situation are cause for compassion, not judgment. But we rarely learn what drives people in such situations—we rarely bother to ask with any real curiosity.
 
While our families can reveal something about how we and the divine relate to each other, families do fail. Family falls short of fully reflecting the love God has for us. No icon can tell the whole truth. What Jesus has to teach us about the family reflects the limits of the metaphor. He calls God Father, and we learn that the love and care human fathers offer at their best is an image of God’s love and care for humanity. He calls his followers brothers and sisters, and we understand a little more how intimate and deep are the bonds that connect us as Christians. And he turns his mother and brothers away, and we learn that our obligations to our families are not so comprehensive as our obligations to God.
 
The bonds we share as parents and children and brothers and sisters are at their best deep, comforting, supportive, and a reflection of divine love. It is certainly possible for God’s love to be communicated to us through these relationships, for God’s care for us to be received practically from the hands of our families. That’s part of why it makes so much sense to us to think that God wants families to be united.
 
But God’s love is in fact different, and our need for God is in fact greater. Our culture, our biology, and our intellect and emotions promote primacy of place for family, but families are human, and their purposes are human. The real and perceived function of families as a place of nurture and security undoubtedly make them important. But they do not make them most important. When family is what is most important, family becomes a false god.
 
Perhaps our need for nurture and security are at the very heart of our reasonable but misplaced attachment to family. However close or remote God may seem to us, God’s perfect mystery will always be beyond our understanding. And so our ability to trust God alone to protect and provide for us is limited by our fear that we won’t be taken care of. And we are very afraid. In chapter 10 of the gospel of Matthew, as elsewhere, Jesus reminds his followers that the very many ways we try to calm our fears by grasping our own security and meeting our own needs will all ultimately fail, but God’s love will never fail. God’s love is the only completely reliable thing; it is therefore the only power which truly prevails for us. Naturally in the course of our lives we seek our own security, but all means besides God are transient, ephemeral. Secrecy cannot save us; self-negation cannot save us. Power, wealth, status, possessions cannot save us. Mutual care and friendship cannot save us. And those most basic and essential allegiances established by virtue of our birth into family relationships, as much as we may value them, cannot save us. Any of these things may be used as a means of grace, assuredly; but they are not grace itself.
 
We would be happy to trust in our own efforts to care for ourselves and our loved ones. We would be content if we could amass enough wealth and possessions to meet our needs. We want to slip into complacency and close our eyes to the frailty of our efforts; we just want to be left in peace. But Jesus comes to wake us from our complacency and get us to invest in the real source of our security: God.
 
Jesus invites us to recognize God as our true source of love and security. And the corollary to that invitation is an invitation to entrust our family members to God, too. We can’t save ourselves, and we can’t save them. But God can. And trusting in God’s love allows us to let go of our fears. And stop all that work we’re doing to try to ensure nothing goes wrong. It’s counterintuitive and uncomfortable. Painful—it can easily be painful. But to acknowledge God’s perfection and the lesser status of the family does not constitute failure. It simply reflects the truth.
 
We will fail. Difficult things will happen. We will have to entrust each other to God’s care when they do. We may even find ourselves with a Damien in our lives—with conflict and pain so horrific it seems we will not be able to bear it. Each of us will have to find our way.
 
But remember that God sent Damien a little red wagon, and a nurse, and a chaplain. Grace was there. God was there. God was present to that little boy even when his family could not be. And with those final acts of love and blessing, God received Damien into God’s care forever. God stands ready to do the same for each of us, and that is the best, the only, hope we have. That at the moment our lives at last seem to be lost—at that very moment, in God, they are found.
 

 

The Rev. Anne Largent Smith

Sermon preached at the Episcopal Church of St. Anne, Stockton, California

June 15, 2014: Trinity Sunday, Year A

Texts: Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Psalm 8, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Matthew 28:16-20

 
“Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
 
Years ago I worked for a massive corporation that periodically got employees together for training events. One of them be sexual harassment training. And one of the first questions we were asked in the training was: “Are you a hugger?” To my surprise, about half the room self-identified as huggers. The rest of us did not.
 
That was an enlightening moment for me. I hadn’t particularly thought before about how varied people’s comfort levels are with physical proximity and contact in spaces like the office where I worked. I hadn’t particularly realized how much clearance I liked to give people and how hesitant I was to use touch in the workplace. It made a lot of sense upon reflection. All our different contexts and experiences meant our comfort levels were widely various, and we all had different ideas about what a touch might mean.
 
So in the Episcopal church when we gather for worship, there is always a moment when we are invited to exchange the peace. This community has its particular way of passing the peace, and other church communities have their way. Some people move around, some stay in place. People say different things—just “peace,” or “The peace of Christ,” or “God’s peace,” or even “Good morning”—and they may shake hands or offer a hug or not touch at all. And I have known some people to kiss, on the mouth or the cheek or even in the air.
 
I myself have come a long way from identifying as “not a hugger.” As far as touch goes, I try to do whatever is comfortable for others when passing the peace. We’ve all been on one side or the other of an unequal exchange where one person expects a hug and the other doesn’t, right? I just do my best not to invade people’s space.
 
And that’s just hugging. I have had some surprises where kissing is concerned, too. I have a friend who always kisses on the cheek, but I always forget and am just trying to give her a hug. And then like many children I was made to kiss my grandparents when we greeted them. I remember not liking my grandfather’s tickly mustache. But I also remember that gesture becoming a special way of expressing love for my grandparents, and later for my mother too. And I have even on occasion given a kiss to a parishioner who proffered one, and to people over whom I have prayed.
 
So it turns out that negotiating touch and communicating through it is pretty complicated. No one would argue with me on that, and yet here, smack in the middle of the liturgy, we issue an invitation to do just that. To negotiate a greeting of some kind, and to communicate something through it. And one of the reasons we do that has to do with ancient instructions like the one Paul gives at the end of this letter to the church at Corinth, to “greet one another with a holy kiss.”
 
I suspect that we all have different ideas about what we’re communicating.  A lot of us will have stories about mishaps. And a few of us will have been really thoughtful about what the exchange of peace represents.
 
I once was part a congregation in which certain members were angry with certain others. One person there began avoiding certain people at the exchange of peace because, as he explained to me, he believed if he was angry with them he couldn’t be sincere in wishing them peace. He thought it was disingenuous of him to make such a gesture of friendship when he did not feel friendship for these other people. Needless to say, his relationship to them did not improve.
 
I’m glad he told me his thoughts on not extending the peace, though, because I realized that for me, passing the peace in the liturgy, whether verbally or with a handshake or a hug, doesn’t actually have very much to do with me at all. When I offer the peace, what I mean to do is pray that God’s peace would be upon each person that I greet. And that means I can sincerely exchange the peace with anyone, friend or enemy, because I truly do wish for everyone to know God’s peace.
 
In fact the holy kiss Paul speaks of in his letter to the Corinthian church has very little to do with reflecting any individual’s positive feelings about the others in that congregation. The church at Corinth was fraught with conflict. Various factions in the church claimed to have more authority than others; their divisions placed their unity as a community at risk. And Paul wants very much for these Christians to realize how central their unity is to their identity as followers of Christ. He exhorts them to love each other, to be patient with each other, and to be humble. He wants them to model themselves after Jesus, who never forgot that he belonged to and relied upon God.
 
And Paul isn’t asking the Corinthians simply to change their minds and their behavior. This is not an exhortation to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and get the job done through sheer will and effort. It’s not an admonition to “Don’t worry, be happy.” What Paul wants the Corinthians to realize is that they have been made a new creation! That they are something different now because the Holy Spirit is in their midst, and the Holy Spirit will bring about transformation among them that they cannot accomplish on their own. The Christian community is a miracle, and for Christians to behave as if it isn’t is for Christians to deny the very power that gives us our identity.
 
Several times in his letters, Paul uses the analogy of the body to describe the miracle of our unity in Christ. He emphasizes that we’re all different—unity doesn’t mean uniformity. We’re not all eyes, or ears, or hands, or feet. Everyone has a part to play. But when Paul describes the Christian church as being like a body, we must understand that we are uniquely connected. That what happens to the eye matters even if you’re a foot; that an injured hand matters even to a healthy ear. And that no part is better than the others, and no part can say it doesn’t need the rest.
 
The body, with all its various parts, is a whole, a unit, and in Christ, so are we, the church. It may seem like we can choose at any moment to disassociate ourselves and choose not to be a part of the community anymore, but in fact we can no more separate ourselves from the body of Christ than our ears can jump down onto our shoulders, slide down our arms, and run away down the street.
 
We often think about our membership in the body of Christ in terms of whether we go to church, or how much a part of the community we feel, but the fact is that there’s something far bigger happening within this body. Whether we choose to participate matters, but even if we don’t, we are still bound together. We are bound together by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit present among us, linking us inextricably to one another. And we need one another. We need the gifts of the Spirit that each person brings into this body. We need to be a place where those gifts can find expression for the sake of God’s purposes for the world.
That’s wholeness for us.
 
 
This is what Paul wants the church to realize: that they are as mutually dependent upon and connected to one another as the various parts of the human body are. That miraculously in this world where relationships are broken and estranged so easily, we are united in Christ. We are in relationship even when we need healing, and we move forward by God’s grace with mutual love because that is how our brokenness is redeemed and repaired.
 
Maybe on this Trinity Sunday the church’s understanding of the triune God can help us understand how deeply connected we are in Christ; how close the relationship is that we’re invited into. The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three persons; they are individual and complete. And God is one, and so the three are also one. There is unity within the trinity, and mutual indwelling, and yet God is three and yet one.
 
We who are made in God’s image and formed into the body of Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit are also joined together so that though many persons we are one. And that moment when we turn to one another to pass the peace is a moment when we recall this profound connection. Whether we’re greeting a spouse of forty years or a stranger we’ve never laid eyes on before, our offering of peace is in a way an acknowledgment of our unity with each other.
 
So while we bring all our human emotions and the tendencies and habits that we’ve developed with each other, yet in Christ, by God’s grace, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we enter a radical new relationship with each other where we recognize ourselves in each person we greet and pray that the God of love and peace be with every person just as we hope that the God of love and peace will be with us ourselves.
 
There’s a mystery to being the body of Christ just as there’s a mystery to God’s Trinitarian nature. We may not understand it or feel it, and we may still be learning how to inhabit this space together, how to know whether to hug or shake hands, how to understand our unity, but we are still in it. We are in the mystery of God’s love here, if only we knew how much. Remember this profound love we share, and our profound connection, as you encounter each other today, and always.
 
Amen.


 

Rev. Anne Smith

a

June 8, 2014: Day of Pentecost, Year A

Text: Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23


 
Among the lesser-known Jewish holidays is Shavuot. The day of Shavuot marks seven weeks since Passover each year; Shavuot means “weeks”, and the English translation of the name for this Holy Day is the Feast of Weeks.
 
In the ancient Jewish tradition Shavuot was a feast of obligation—it was the time to bring the first fruits of the harvest to the Temple to be a thanksgiving offering to God.
 
But in Jesus’s day a shift was taking place, and Shavuot gained significance as a memorial of the covenant God had made with humankind, ultimately symbolized by the giving of the law, or Torah, to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
 
Even as the meaning of the day has shifted, it has always represented a significant occasion for acknowledging and giving thanks for what God has provided.
 
The most common name for this day is actually from the Greek. Seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot makes the celebration fall on the 50th day, and so the Greek word for “fiftieth” became its name: Pentecost.
 
Pentecost, a holy day for Jews from every nation to gather in Jerusalem and offer thanks to God, remembering God’s goodness and love toward them and their commitment to serve God in return.
 
And one year long ago, there amid the Jews renewing their commitment to the divine covenant, a gathering of the disciples of Jesus issued an invitation for people to turn to God in a brand new way. A sound like rushing wind rose up, and tongues of fire came to rest on the disciples, and they spoke. Into a crowd of Jews from every corner of the empire, the disciples spoke languages they could scarcely have named before, and foreigners caught the familiar cadences of home in speech plainly sensible to them though it came from the mouths of a few yokels from that provincial backwater, Galilee.
 
There on that day the Holy Spirit was poured out and people’s hearts were set ablaze. They heard a message of God’s saving power, a power made real in the person of Jesus.
 
Here amid a cacophony of different languages this morning we too hear this message, emerging in clear, sensible speech. The Spirit comes and we hear the message of God’s power at work from the beginning of time and even now.
 
We hear the song of the Psalmist recall the movement of the Holy Spirit in creation, the wisdom with which God made all things, the variety present everywhere we look! Creation is God’s delight, and the Holy Spirit is the very breath of life.
 
We hear the words of the prophet Joel, as he speaks of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, bringing forth new life in the midst of death, saving not just the chosen ones of Israel but people of all nations, to God’s greater glory.
 
We hear Jesus himself offering shalom, a word of peace and well-being, as he sends his followers into the world as he himself had been sent by God. He breathes on his friends and the Spirit comes and fills them with power, the surprising power of offering forgiveness and accountability.
 
Those who receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus offers it here are given the power to release the sins of any or retain the sins of any. Friends, this is the power to break the world open, to give freedom to captives and to bring justice to the oppressed.
 
Do you remember how Jesus practiced forgiveness? Jesus went into places where sin cast people’s lives into darkness and shadow, and he brought them healing and release. Those who suffered from blindness, paralysis, fever, bleeding, leprosy, and disease received the healing of their bodies; those who suffered analogous ailments of heart, mind, and soul received blessed release. Jesus offered forgiveness that restored suffering people to wholeness and connection with God.
 
But Jesus retained the sins of some. Everywhere Jesus went, he challenged the lies that held power over people’s lives. When Jesus found the tellers of lies, he confronted them with the truth. Jesus held them accountable for their sin, the sin of leading people away from God. When the Pharisees burdened the Jewish people with lies about what God required of them, Jesus held them accountable. When anyone in power dismissed another person as less than worthy for any reason—gender, status, age, ethnicity—Jesus exposed the lie. He affirmed the dignity and value of all people, but he held anyone accountable who propagated the lie that some are less-than, the lie that some are unbeloved.
 
Jesus gave his friends the Spirit and the power to forgive, and we have received these gifts too. In baptism, we invite the Holy Spirit to reside in us, and what potential is ours because of it! The Spirit comes and expectations break apart, and the immovable breaks free. Forgiveness, release, and new life become possible. The Spirit is poured into every believer, every servant of God, and we have such gifts to offer because of it. This body of God-loving, sin-forgiving, healing-bringing, lie-exposing faithful people, still learning ourselves to walk by grace, gets to spread the love of God and the forgiveness that frees us into every corner of the world.
 
Like the Jews gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost the year of that first Easter we come to this day to give thanks to God and acknowledge all that God has provided, and to be reminded of the covenant we have made with God. We renew our baptismal vows, the promises we make about how we will live our life in Christ. And I pray that we also see the continuous outpouring of the Holy Spirit and that we will receive anew our commission to bring light and love and forgiveness and justice into the world.
 

Amen.

 
 


 

Rev. Anne Smith

a

June 8, 2014: Day of Pentecost, Year A

Text: Acts 2:1-21, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23


 
Among the lesser-known Jewish holidays is Shavuot. The day of Shavuot marks seven weeks since Passover each year; Shavuot means “weeks”, and the English translation of the name for this Holy Day is the Feast of Weeks.
 
In the ancient Jewish tradition Shavuot was a feast of obligation—it was the time to bring the first fruits of the harvest to the Temple to be a thanksgiving offering to God.
 
But in Jesus’s day a shift was taking place, and Shavuot gained significance as a memorial of the covenant God had made with humankind, ultimately symbolized by the giving of the law, or Torah, to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
 
Even as the meaning of the day has shifted, it has always represented a significant occasion for acknowledging and giving thanks for what God has provided.
 
The most common name for this day is actually from the Greek. Seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot makes the celebration fall on the 50th day, and so the Greek word for “fiftieth” became its name: Pentecost.
 
Pentecost, a holy day for Jews from every nation to gather in Jerusalem and offer thanks to God, remembering God’s goodness and love toward them and their commitment to serve God in return.
 
And one year long ago, there amid the Jews renewing their commitment to the divine covenant, a gathering of the disciples of Jesus issued an invitation for people to turn to God in a brand new way. A sound like rushing wind rose up, and tongues of fire came to rest on the disciples, and they spoke. Into a crowd of Jews from every corner of the empire, the disciples spoke languages they could scarcely have named before, and foreigners caught the familiar cadences of home in speech plainly sensible to them though it came from the mouths of a few yokels from that provincial backwater, Galilee.
 
There on that day the Holy Spirit was poured out and people’s hearts were set ablaze. They heard a message of God’s saving power, a power made real in the person of Jesus.
 
Here amid a cacophony of different languages this morning we too hear this message, emerging in clear, sensible speech. The Spirit comes and we hear the message of God’s power at work from the beginning of time and even now.
 
We hear the song of the Psalmist recall the movement of the Holy Spirit in creation, the wisdom with which God made all things, the variety present everywhere we look! Creation is God’s delight, and the Holy Spirit is the very breath of life.
 
We hear the words of the prophet Joel, as he speaks of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, bringing forth new life in the midst of death, saving not just the chosen ones of Israel but people of all nations, to God’s greater glory.
 
We hear Jesus himself offering shalom, a word of peace and well-being, as he sends his followers into the world as he himself had been sent by God. He breathes on his friends and the Spirit comes and fills them with power, the surprising power of offering forgiveness and accountability.
 
Those who receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus offers it here are given the power to release the sins of any or retain the sins of any. Friends, this is the power to break the world open, to give freedom to captives and to bring justice to the oppressed.
 
Do you remember how Jesus practiced forgiveness? Jesus went into places where sin cast people’s lives into darkness and shadow, and he brought them healing and release. Those who suffered from blindness, paralysis, fever, bleeding, leprosy, and disease received the healing of their bodies; those who suffered analogous ailments of heart, mind, and soul received blessed release. Jesus offered forgiveness that restored suffering people to wholeness and connection with God.
 
But Jesus retained the sins of some. Everywhere Jesus went, he challenged the lies that held power over people’s lives. When Jesus found the tellers of lies, he confronted them with the truth. Jesus held them accountable for their sin, the sin of leading people away from God. When the Pharisees burdened the Jewish people with lies about what God required of them, Jesus held them accountable. When anyone in power dismissed another person as less than worthy for any reason—gender, status, age, ethnicity—Jesus exposed the lie. He affirmed the dignity and value of all people, but he held anyone accountable who propagated the lie that some are less-than, the lie that some are unbeloved.
 
Jesus gave his friends the Spirit and the power to forgive, and we have received these gifts too. In baptism, we invite the Holy Spirit to reside in us, and what potential is ours because of it! The Spirit comes and expectations break apart, and the immovable breaks free. Forgiveness, release, and new life become possible. The Spirit is poured into every believer, every servant of God, and we have such gifts to offer because of it. This body of God-loving, sin-forgiving, healing-bringing, lie-exposing faithful people, still learning ourselves to walk by grace, gets to spread the love of God and the forgiveness that frees us into every corner of the world.
 
Like the Jews gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost the year of that first Easter we come to this day to give thanks to God and acknowledge all that God has provided, and to be reminded of the covenant we have made with God. We renew our baptismal vows, the promises we make about how we will live our life in Christ. And I pray that we also see the continuous outpouring of the Holy Spirit and that we will receive anew our commission to bring light and love and forgiveness and justice into the world.
 

Amen.

 
 

The Friday Reflection Title

 6-6-2014

     

    St. John the Evangelist, Stockton

Even more about St. John’s
 
The Northern Deanery met once again at St. John’s in Stockton last week. The first meeting in response to St. John’s being returned to the diocese six weeks before had over forty people in attendance. I fully expected that this meeting held six weeks later would have half the number in attendance. I was wrong; very wrong. Again, there were over forty people in attendance (and not the same 40).
 
I continue to be amazed at the good will, great spirit and can-do attitude of the Northern Deanery. It seems as if everyone is willing to help. Sunday services and Wednesday services are being held with a rota of clergy from the northern area of the diocese. Some people working in the downtown area have started coming to the Wednesday service. Some people who used to attend St. John’s before the split have come to check us out.
 
The deanery meeting consisted of more brainstorming about the future ministry at St. John’s. We started with the question, “how are things going at St. John’s”? The response included, “good, better attendance on weekdays vs. weekends, new improved signage coming, website in progress as well as brochures and literature, etc.” Possible ideas about our next steps included supporting a food closet, finding gaps is services in Stockton, possible co-op food distribution, meeting place to connect service providers in Stockton, adult education and recreation, afterschool activities and tutoring, etc. What is exciting to me is the way that people are coming together to talk about a mission to the needs in an urban downtown setting.
 
The group decided to continue as we have been doing for another six weeks. Our next meeting is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 15 with a Eucharist scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in honor of St. Mary the Virgin. Regular staff meetings will be held and are open to anyone interested. They will take place on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m.
 
This has been a wonderfully creative time as we all discern together a future ministry at St. John’s.
 
Canon Kate+

“Participating in God’s Reconciling Love”

From the Bishop…

Looking for Stories as I travel the Diocese…

 
I am looking for stories, stories of mission, stories about people involved in the missional experience, stories about the ways in which we are joining with what God is already doing in streets, lanes and cul de sacs near us.  And so, I will be coming to you with I Pad or I Phone or Go Pro (a wee camera I can mount anywhere including on my mitre) or all the above, to capture your story, our story, the story of the People of God engaging, serving, living.  I hope to post these stories on our Website, perhaps on Face book.  I hope to ensure that our stories are told.  I hope to ensure that San Joaquin is known as a place where faithful Episcopalians are involved in the lives of the people in our communities.  < /p>
 
Bishop with camera will see you soon.
 
Blessings
+David
 

Promotion of Friday Reflections…

Where do you get your news?

Do you Lean Forward with MSNBC?
Do you Decide with Fox News?
Do you Reflect with Friday Reflections?
You reflect with Friday Reflections of course! It has become something you look forward to and has become YOUR news source. If it does not show up in your email box for whatever reason it can tilt your whole day.

 

Bishop David, Canon Kate and I would like all of our parishioners to have the Friday Reflection be THIER source for news of the Diocese and please help us get others signed up to receive the Friday Reflection!

 

1. Promote the Friday Reflections at announcement time during your services.

2. Print out and Post the Friday Reflection for those who do not have the internet.

3. Create a sign up list and mail to the Diocesan Office.

 

4. Assist those not receiving the Friday Reflection.

If a parishioner is having problems receiving the Friday Reflection it could be:

 

a. They opted out of receiving the Friday Reflection. To receive the Friday Reflection again direct them to our website www.diosanjoaquin.org. Click on Friday Reflection, scan down to the bottom and click on the join our mailing list box.

b.They use Gmail. The Friday Reflection could be coming weekly but not showing up in the main email window. Check the tabs above the main email window and see if that is where the Friday Reflection is being sent.

 

c.Friday Reflection is designated as spam. Un-spam Friday Reflection.
If further assistance is needed contact me at the Diocesan Office or email [email protected].
Thank you for promoting our latest news of the Diocese.
      The Friday Reflection Title
is THE weekly news source of the Diocese of San Joaquin!
Ellen Meyer,
Administrator

For Northern Deanery…

Northern Deanery Meeting
 

Saturday, June 14, 2014 is the next scheduled Northern Deanery meeting. Plan now to be at Christ the King in Riverbank at 10 a.m.  In addition to elections for deanery officers, Cindy Smith, chair of the diocesan Sustainability Committee, will be at the meeting to present the suggestions from the committee for a conversation about the future of the Episcopal Church in the Northern area of the San Joaquin Diocese.

It is important for all voting members of the Northern Deanery, clergy and lay delegates to convention, to be present for the election.  The deanery meetings are open to all Episcopalians. It is also very important that everyone comes who wants to be part of the conversation. Where and how will the Episcopal Church’s ministry be alive in this valley/sierra part of California? What is our part in the future of the church here?

Juanita Weber, President Northern Deanery

For Central Deanery…

Central  Deanery Meeting
 

A meeting of the Central Deanery has been called to discuss properties in those areas of the diocese.The Central Deanery Meeting is currently scheduled for July 13, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Holy Family, Fresno.

 

For Southern Deanery…

Town Hall Meeting
There will be a town hall meeting with Bishop David and Canon Kate on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s in Bakersfield. This meeting is open to anyone who is interested in what the future of the Episcopal Church might look like in the Bakersfield area. We are hoping to glean and share ideas, vision for the future and hear any concerns from those interested in the ministry of the Episcopal Church in Bakersfield. Please do plan to attend. Everyone is welcome to come and be part of this dialogue.
Southern Deanery Meeting
A meeting of the Southern Deanery has been called to discuss the ministry of the Episcopal Church in the Southern region of the diocese. Anyone interested in the ministry of the Episcopal Church in the Southern end of the diocese is welcome and encouraged to attend. The Southern Deanery meeting is currently scheduled for

From the Diocesan Office…

Reminder -The Bronze Disaster Preparedness Plan…

is to be completed by all parishes and missions and turned into the Diocesan Office. Many thanks to St. Clare of Assisi- Avery, St Matthew’s- San Andreas, St. James- Sonora, St. John the Baptist- Lodi, St. Raphael’s- Oakhurst, Holy Trinity- Madera and Church of the Saviour- Hanford for completing their plan.  YOU ROCK! 


Picture of Bishop David
 

At the Diocesan Office- Modesto there are pictures of Bishop Jerry and Bishop Chet. It has been asked many times when Bishop David’s picture will be hung beside them. A shout out to St. Paul’s, Modesto:  The picture is coming!

An 8×11 of Bishop David is going to be printed soon and if any other parish would like to have a picture please email [email protected] by June 15, 2015. I will mail the picture (frame and matting not included) once printed.

ALL MAIL

 

for the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Bishop, Canon, and Administrator is to go to the current address: 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355.

Time sensitive material can be emailed to: [email protected].

Thank you,

Ellen Meyer,

Administrator

Whats going on…

What’s Happening in the DIO
Northern Deanery Clericus, June 10, 2014, 11:00 a.m., St. John the Evangelist, Stockton
 

Bakersfield Town Hall Meeting, June 11, 2014, 7:00 p.m., St. Paul’s, Bakersfield

Northern Deanery Meeting June 14, 2014, 10:00 a.m., Christ the King, Riverbank
 
Southern  Deanery Meeting July 12, 2014, 10:00 a.m., St. Andrew’s, Taft
 
Central Deanery Meeting July 13, 2014, 3:00 p.m., Holy Family, Fresno
 
Northern Deanery Eucharist August 15, 2014  3:00 p.m., St. John’s, Stockton
 
Northern Deanery Meeting August 15, 2014  4:00 p.m., St. John’s, Stockton
 
Annual Convention, October 24-25, 2014, St. Paul’s, Modesto

   Click on the link below to see more upcoming events and meetings around the diocese.

 

From Our Parishes and Missions…

Waterloo
Northern California’s Premier Abba Tribute Band
Friday June 6, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
The Episcopal Church of St. Anne
1020 W. Lincoln Rd., StocktonPurchase tickets online at:
First FridayJune6.eventbrite.com
$15.00 adults $7.50 children and $40.00 family

Bluegrass Festival
Saturday July 12, 2014, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Episcopal Community of Christ the King
6443 Estelle Avenue, Riverbank

Live Music, Barbeque, Dunking Booth, Beer Garden, Children’s Games, Raffle, Craft Vendors and more!

Proceeds will benefit Casa Del Rio

 The Friday Reflection Title

5-29-2014

What exactly does it mean to be missional?
 
As most of you know Karen and I are Huskers.  Go into any part of our house and you will undoubtedly find some memorabilia relating to the Nebraska Cornhusker football team. Although Karen and I have lived much of our adult lives in Japan, Missouri, Nevada and now California, we will always be Nebraskans at heart.  And, we are not shy about letting others know that we consider Nebraska the closest thing to heaven here on earth.
 
What does being a Nebraskan have to do with being missional?  To me they are closely linked.  In rural Nebraska neighbors looked out for neighbors.   Being a Christian is how I identify who I am and what I am called to do.  As a Christian being missional is not being shy about being a follower of Christ.  It is taking His message to the people, not waiting for them to come to me.  It is action not theological discussions.  It is saying to my neighbor, “Let me help you with that.”
 
God sent Jesus, Jesus sent the disciples, and now we are sent – missio Dei.  In several sermons I have reminded our congregation that while St. James is a beautiful building, and we are happy to be there.  It is JUST a building.  It was made by human hands and will not endure.  What we have as Christians will endure.  It is eternal.  We are the church.   I know that missional includes such things as working for social justice, helping the oppressed, and providing for the homeless, but I urge those who worship at St. James that to be missionaries for Christ does not necessarily mean doing the spectacular.  While newspapers and TV news shows depend on those who perform wondrous acts of heroism, it is as Canon Kate once told us; God is present in the ordinary.  It is the simple, ordinary things that we can all do on a daily basis.  The little acts of kindness that others notice.  It is being involved in the culture that surrounds us and meeting people where they live.  Being missional may be nothing more than helping someone unload packages from his or her car or offering to provide transportation to an appointment.  Don’t let these missional moments pass you by while waiting for your spectacular event to come along.
 
Fr. Andy Anderson
 

“Participating in God’s Reconciling Love”

Requiestcat…

 Lewis J. “Scoop” Beardsley passed away Tuesday, May 20, 2014 in Newport News, VA after a brief illness. Scoop was born and raised in Watkins Glen, NY, where he held multiple jobs in the Salt Co. and Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. He and Rhoda worked full-time for the Episcopal Church and Conference Center in Oakhurst, CA, before retiring to Virginia in 1992.

 
For those who remember Scoop and Rhoda, Scoop’s son Chris says his mother Rhoda is doing well.  If you wish to send Rhoda a card call the Diocesan Office or email
[email protected].

From the Bishop…

Looking for Stories…
 
I am looking for stories, stories of mission, stories about people involved in the missional experience, stories about the ways in which we are joining with what God is already doing in streets, lanes and cul de sacs near us.  And so, I will be coming to you with I Pad or I Phone or Go Pro (a wee camera I can mount anywhere including on my mitre) or all the above, to capture your story, our story, the story of the People of God engaging, serving, living.  I hope to post these stories on our Website, perhaps on Face book.  I hope to ensure that our stories are told.  I hope to ensure that San Joaquin is known as a place where faithful Episcopalians are involved in the lives of the people in our communities.
 
Bishop with camera will see you soon.
 
Blessings
+David

For Northern Deanery…

Northern Deanery Meeting – Saturday, 10 am June 14 @ Christ the King, Riverbank
 
There will be a Northern Deanery Meeting a June 14, 2014,10:00 a.m. at Christ the King, Riverbank. At this meeting we will elect officers for the coming year, conduct regular deanery business and also hear a report regarding the returning properties of the diocese with an emphasis on the properties anticipated to be returned in the Northern Deanery (St. Matthias, Oakdale; St. Mary’s, Manteca, St. Mark’s, Tracy as well as St. John’s, Stockton).Anyone who is interested in the ministry in the Northern Deanery is welcome and encouraged to attend.
 

For Central Deanery…

Fresno Town Hall Meeting – Wednesday, 6 pm June 4 @ Holy Family, Fresno
 
There will be a town hall meeting with Bishop David and Canon Kate on Wednesday, June 4, 6:00 p.m. at Holy Family in Fresno. It appears that the Episcopal Church may soon be in possession of St. James’ Cathedral, St. Mary’s, St. Martin’s as well as Holy Family, Fresno with a court decision about St. Columba’s yet to come.  We are calling a meeting to brainstorm and plan for the return of all of these properties. Please come and share your ideas and concerns. This meeting is for ANYONE who is interested to what might happen with these properties.  Certainly if you have been a member or are presently a member of any of these parishes, you are especially welcome.
 

A meeting of the Central Deanery has been called to discuss properties in those areas of the diocese.The Central Deanery Meeting is currently scheduled for July 13, 2013, 3:00 p.m. at Holy Family, Fresno.

 

For Southern Deanery…

Bakersfield Town Hall Meeting – Wednesday, 7 pm June 11 @ St. Paul’s, Bakersfield
 

There will be a town hall meeting with Bishop David and Canon Kate on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s in Bakersfield. It appears that the Episcopal Church may soon be in possession of All Saints, St. Luke’s, as well as the already returned St. Paul’s, Bakersfield.  We are calling a meeting to brainstorm and plan for the return of all of these properties. Please come and share your ideas and concerns. This meeting is for ANYONE who is interested to what might happen with these properties.  Certainly if you have been a member or are presently a member of any of these parishes, you are especially welcome.
A meeting of the  Southern Deanery has been called to discuss properties in those areas of the diocese. The Southern Deanery meeting is currently scheduled for 10:00 a.m., July 12, 2014 at St. Andrew’s in Taft.

Did you know..

Did you know that the following writers were Episcopalian?

  • C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia
  • Madeleine L’Engle, A wrinkle in Time
  • William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
  • Dorothy Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey
  • Alexandra Stoddard, Daring to be Yourself
  • Cordwainer Smith, The Rediscovery of Man
  • T. S. Elliot, lyrics to the musical “CATS” (talk about trivia! He’s written much more.)
  • Susan Howatch, Mystical Paths
  • Hillaire Belloc, The Four Men, Vile Bodies
  • Jan Karon, The Mitford Series
  • Mortimer J. Adler
  • Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carrol
  • Dr. Samuel Johnson, author of the first dictionary
  • Richard Brinsley Sheridan
  • Joseph Addison (writer and editor)
  • William Congreve
  • Diane Mott Davidson, mystery writer, Dying for Chocolate Edith Pargeter aka Ellis Peters, The Brother Cadfael Mysteries (shown on PBS)
  • Father Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
  • William Wordsworth
  • Jane Austen

Education on Ministry…

 EFM
Calling all peoples who are interested in deepening the Christian Faith, studying the Bible, Church History and theological ideas and reflect on connecting faith with life experiences.

10:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m.

We are all called to ministry and  the Education for Ministry (EfM) program provides people with the education to carry out that ministry. EfM offers an opportunity to discover how to respond to the call to Christian service.
Please let us know if you would be interested in joining a monthly seminar in the fall.
Thank you.
Peace, Joy and Abundance,
Stephanie Gilmer, EfM Mentor

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Modesto
[email protected]

From the Diocesan Office…

Picture of Bishop David 

At the Diocesan Office- Modesto there are pictures of Bishop Jerry and Bishop Chet. It has been asked many times when Bishop David’s picture will be hung beside them. A shout out to St. Paul’s, Modesto:  The picture is coming!

An 8×11 of Bishop David is going to be printed soon and if any other parish would like to have a picture please email [email protected] by June 15, 2015. I will mail the picture (frame and matting not included) once printed.

ALL MAIL

 
for the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, Bishop, Canon, and Administrator is to go to the current address: 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto, CA 95355.

Time sensitive material can be emailed to: [email protected].

Thank you,

Ellen Meyer,

Administrator

Whats going on…

What’s Happening in the DIO
Convention Arrangement Committee Meeting, May 31, 2014, 10:30 a.m., St. Paul’s, Modesto
 
Fresno Town Hall Meeting, June 4, 2014, 6:00 p.m.,  Holy Family, Fresno
 
Northern Deanery Clericus, June 10, 2014, 11:00 a.m., St. John the Evangelist, Stockton
 

Bakersfield Town Hall Meeting, June 11, 2014, 7:00 p.m., St. Paul’s, Bakersfield

Northern Deanery Meeting June 14, 2014, 10:00 a.m., Christ the King, Riverbank
 
Southern  Deanery Meeting July 12, 2014, 10:00 a.m., St. Andrew’s, Taft
 
Central Deanery Meeting July 13, 2014, 3:00 p.m., Holy Family, Fresno
 
Annual Convention, October 24-25, 2014, St. Paul’s, Modesto

   Click on the link below to see more upcoming events and meetings around the diocese.

 

From Our Parishes and Missions…

Portals to Prayer with Poets and Mystics

Deep Listening:  Heart to Heart

 

Thursday, June 5th 7:00-8:30pm,

The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist

1055 S. Lower Sacramento Rd, Lodi

 

Carol Bower Foote is offering a quiet evening designed for deep listening, by speaking selected sets of poems and writings around themes for contemplation. Time for silent prayer and reflection will be offered after each set of readings. Participants are invited to be present, silently receive the spoken offerings, then listen deeply for their own soul’s experience and message.   Conversation and discussion is not part of this experience.

Works shared will include Rumi, Rilke, Hafiz, Meister Eckhart, St John of the Cross, St. Symeon,  Marie Howe, Mary Oliver, David Whyte, Wendell Berry, Pablo Neruda, Li-Young Lee, e.e. Cummings, Willliam Stafford, Naomi Shibah Nye, and others.

 

Drop ins and guests are welcome from all parishes.
Questions?  Call Carol at 707-374-2124707-374-2124

Bishop’s and Canon’s Visitations Calendars… 

Bishop David’s Calendar –Click Here
 

Canon Kate’s Calendar- Click Here
 

For our Diocesan Prayer Calendar….click here
Diocesan Website and Facebook…
 Have you checked it out?
Keep up to date on news and events with our
Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin website
www.diosanjoaquin.org

Facebook  
Check out postings from Bishop David and Canon Kate at
Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin